Does the reality of evil mean that God does not exist?
The answer is no.
Why? Because 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴.
In fact, if God does not exist, then evil cannot exist. But if evil is real, then God must be real.
How is this possible? Consider the following. Suffering and pain can exist apart from God, but these are not necessarily "evil." For example, when someone finishes running a marathon, they may be in pain, but that pain is not "evil."
When we call certain suffering "evil," it implies a judgment about that suffering.
This judgment is essentially that some things are 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦. This, in turn, entails that there is a way things 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦. Furthermore, the way people make this judgment shows that they do not believe it is just a matter of opinion. As such, it must be based in a reality outside of the human mind. So what other options are there?
The physical world of air, rocks, trees, stars, etc. is an option. But since physical objects do not determine how anything should or should not be, the judgment cannot be based in the physical world.
Therefore the "way things are supposed to be" must be based in a reality outside of the physical world. And it is this other reality which can be called "God."
Dr. Richard Dawkins, a well-known atheist, indirectly acknowledges this point when he states that in an atheistic universe filled with "blind physical forces and genetic replication... there is... no evil and no good". In his book, 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯, he makes this clear.
𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦… 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯, 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.
Hence there is a certain irony behind those who reject God because of evil. The irony is that, far from disproving the existence of God, evil actually provides an excellent reason for concluding that 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩.
Learn More
Short Blog: Alvin Plantinga Solves "Logical Problem" of Evil
Video (below): Evil Requires Trusting God's Goodness
Video (below): Reconciling a Good God with the Reality of Evil
References
Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life, Reissued, A Phoenix Paperback (London: Phoenix, 2004), 133.